Expectations for 2023

[Dandelion]

I know there are a bunch of d23 related events going on all over the country so why not an actual d23 convention. And if we’re not getting one, can we at least get a kingdom hearts direct where we can get as much info as possible during certain times of the year

Because D23 has always been every-other-year.

To be fair, though, D23 Japan used to alternate with D23 America.

It may look very similar, but "undeniably" is a bit strong of a word. It could be plenty of other things.

It really couldn't.

 

[Face My Fears]

I'm 99.9% certain that there will be a new KH4 trailer this year - possibly a world reveal (Star Wars).

For some weird reason, I feel like they're actually thinking about marketing the game properly this time around. And by that I mean, they're trying to catch the mainstream audience. Putting the look-a-like foot of the AT-ST in the trailer was even better at building hype than straight up revealing the Star Wars world - at least at this stage of marketing. It got all the KH fans talking while also piquing the interest of mainstream gamers/Star Wars fans AND combined with the more "mature" look of the game, it may actually grab mainstream gamers to change their perception of KH.

 

[Keyblade Knight 1st Class]

I'm not expecting KHIV until 2025 so I have my doubts that we'll get a trailer this year. So Missing Link is all I'm expecting for the year.

 

[MATGSY]

It may look very similar, but "undeniably" is a bit strong of a word. It could be plenty of other things.

No, no it could not.

That's not "very similar" looking, that's an exact match. If it's a rock, then it's a very dome metal looking rock with a rectangular outcropping. Not very rock like If it's the base of a lamp post then what the hell is a lamp post doing by a river in a forest?

If it's a GIGAS mech with a SW themed design, well they wouldn't do that unless there was a SW world anyway.

If you got another idea let me hear it because I can't see it as anything else.

 

[Elysium]

The rectangular portion at the back juts out further behind than the comparison there? And the little line that circles midway up gets much wider outwards than the comparison, where it stays the same width all the way around. I mean, it likely is, but it could very easily be put there because of the similarity and the desire to throw the fanbase off speculating.

As far as expectations, I have none. I'd be surprised if anything happens this year. Hopefully a 3.5 ReMIX does end up coming before KHIV, but IV isn't a lock for 2024, imo, so a ReMIX (if one even happens) could come in '24.

 

[Dandelion]

The rectangular portion at the back juts out further behind than the comparison there? And the little line that circles midway up gets much wider outwards than the comparison, where it stays the same width all the way around. I mean, it likely is, but it could very easily be put there because of the similarity and the desire to throw the fanbase off speculating.

As far as expectations, I have none. I'd be surprised if anything happens this year. Hopefully a 3.5 ReMIX does end up coming before KHIV, but IV isn't a lock for 2024, imo, so a ReMIX (if one even happens) could come in '24.

The picture that I posted is from the correct angle and shows that it's basically identical.

 

[MATGSY]

It's not like it's even the finalized model anyway when they're switching to UE5.

 

[AegisXIII]

It's not like it's even the finalized model anyway when they're switching to UE5.

Switching to UE5 has little to do with the models. The assets should be identical.

 

[MATGSY]

Switching to UE5 has little to do with the models. The assets should be identical.

The assets will be higher detail. That's like the whole point of a next gen engine.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Star Wars is happening. That is absolutely Endor. That will be the next announcement at some point this year if they intend to do any marketing for KH4.

 

[Chie]

The assets will be higher detail. That's like the whole point of a next gen engine.

I don't think that's true.

 

[the red monster]

updated engine has more to do with the shadows,lighting,ray tracing and such. it's up to them to update the models and add more details to them. which is very likely they will before release.

 

[Liodin]

For those of you who are interested to know what improvements KH4 will have when using UE5 look on youtube for the Matrix Awakens tech demo.

And a few weeks ago the engine was updated to version 5.1 which added and improved many features, so the demo no longer represents the current quality.

The most important features of the engine are Nanite and Lumen. Quite revolutionary.

-

As for expectations, I don't know if I like them teasing the worlds and I would rather they reveal the worlds in the trailer itself.
But I think they have come up with a very good marketing strategy, so I expect them to continue to do so.

I think, for marketing, the teaser works better than revealing the world directly. It creates discussion among the community trying to figure out what world might be and how would it be like in terms of locations, designs, gameplay, etc.

Plus it builds hype for the next trailer, even for those outside of KH if the expected world is of interest to you.

 

[AegisXIII]

updated engine has more to do with the shadows,lighting,ray tracing and such. it's up to them to update the models and add more details to them. which is very likely they will before release.

Actually, I was wrong. Unreal Engine 5 comes with Nanite, a technology that allows to render very high density models at low cost (it reduces the number of triangles the further it is from the camera). So yes, maybe the models might be improved, but we still have to keep in mind that even with the capability to load 10x more triangles, the game still needs to fit on a 100GB disk, so it's still gonna be a tradeoff.

 

[the red monster]

Actually, I was wrong. Unreal Engine 5 comes with Nanite, a technology that allows to render very high density models at low cost (it reduces the number of triangles the further it is from the camera). So yes, maybe the models might be improved, but we still have to keep in mind that even with the capability to load 10x more triangles, the game still needs to fit on a 100GB disk, so it's still gonna be a tradeoff.

i mean there's games that come with two disks so that's not really an issue.

 

[Chie]

Are you aware that people have to, like, make the models?

Idk if you're thinking, like, you just put the game into UE5 and you can set the polygons as high as you want and this somehow makes the game look "better".

They already have the game looking how they want, I think.

 

[Willow A113]

Are you aware that people have to, like, make the models?

Idk if you're thinking, like, you just put the game into UE5 and you can set the polygons as high as you want and this somehow makes the game look "better".

They already have the game looking how they want, I think.

The higher-poly models might already exist and they downgraded them for the UE4 trailer. If not, do you know that they created separate models for the pre-rendered cutscenes in kh3?

 

[Face My Fears]

For those of you who are interested to know what improvements KH4 will have when using UE5 look on youtube for the Matrix Awakens tech demo.

And a few weeks ago the engine was updated to version 5.1 which added and improved many features, so the demo no longer represents the current quality.

The most important features of the engine are Nanite and Lumen. Quite revolutionary.

-

As for expectations, I don't know if I like them teasing the worlds and I would rather they reveal the worlds in the trailer itself.
But I think they have come up with a very good marketing strategy, so I expect them to continue to do so.

I think, for marketing, the teaser works better than revealing the world directly. It creates discussion among the community trying to figure out what world might be and how would it be like in terms of locations, designs, gameplay, etc.

Plus it builds hype for the next trailer, even for those outside of KH if the expected world is of interest to you.

I'm not sure how they can hint other worlds though and not basically give them away. Star Wars is the perfect one because it could have been anywhere (even an original world). Any DISNEY animated world can be easily figured out and other live-action worlds would need something that would give it away to really be a tease. I mean, just imagine if they reveal a live-action style NYC - everyone will immediately assume MARVEL.

 

[AegisXIII]

Are you aware that people have to, like, make the models?

Idk if you're thinking, like, you just put the game into UE5 and you can set the polygons as high as you want and this somehow makes the game look "better".

They already have the game looking how they want, I think.

Actually, it's easier to make high poly than low poly. Usually artists make a high detailed mesh and have to spend extra time to downsample it and extract textures that give the illusion that the mesh is higher res than what it actually is.
Or that is how it's done for characters. Environments are probably less complex

For those of you who are interested to know what improvements KH4 will have when using UE5 look on youtube for the Matrix Awakens tech demo.

And a few weeks ago the engine was updated to version 5.1 which added and improved many features, so the demo no longer represents the current quality.

The most important features of the engine are Nanite and Lumen. Quite revolutionary.

5.1 adds nanite support for folliage, so that's excellent news for the forest of the trailer.
I've had the chance to test it and without nanite, after 50 trees, my game was total crap with huge frame drops. After nanite, smooth 60fps. Insane!